Entry-level trackers can provide a picture of your everyday habits and fitness progress to motivate you toward a goal or keep track of your current health. Losing weight and getting healthy can be fun! Do you want to live an active lifestyle – Get healthy, lose weight and maintain the weight loss? Well then an activity tracker could be your tool to success in reaching your goals.

How an Activity Tracker | helps Weight Loss?

Activity Tracker Device Benefits:

Steps trackingA simple way to track your activity level is by logging the number of steps you take. The most accurate way to track your steps is with an accelerometer or GPS. With this type of tracker, you have more options of where it can be worn — from in a pocket to around your neck or on your wrist. Some activity trackers can also calculate your calories burned using this information and/or personal data.

Calorie countingActivity trackers calculate calories burned in a variety of ways. Using your heart rate to determine this is one of the more accurate ways because it takes into account your personal exertion. Other trackers use their own equation to calculate this value — based on steps logged and/or stairs climbed. You might also input your weight and/or age to create a more custom calculation.

Distance traveledKeeping track of your distance traveled is another way to work toward your fitness goals for activities like running, cycling and hiking. A variety of activity trackers can calculate the distance you’ve traveled through an accelerometer or GPS.Sleep quality and alarm clocks.

Tracking progress onlineMaking it even easier to follow your progress, some trackers can download your information to a tablet, smartphone or laptop. You’ll find trackers that use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to transfer information, whereas others download information via USB. Once the information is downloaded, apps can analyze your progress, offer personalized workout plans, compare stats with friends, and more. Apps are created for a variety of operating systems, so you’ll want to make sure the tracker’s app works with your tablet or smartphone’s operating system (such as Android, iOS, etc.). For a more comprehensive view of your habits, you may also be able to input information like what food you eat, amount of water you drink and more.Each activity tracker comes with its own brand-specific app. Designed specifically to work with your activity tracker, this app combines all of your stats in one convenient place, making it easy to spot trends and find ways to improve your results. A variety of trackers also sync with third-party fitness apps that you may already use, such as RunKeeper, Lose It! or MapMyFitness. The easier it is to track your progress, the easier it will be to reach your health and fitness goals.

NIKE+ FuelBand SE!

Think you live an active life? Prove it with a NIKE+ FuelBand SE! A versatile training tool you wear on your wrist, it tracks the intensity of your workout or activity and shares how much NIKEFuel® your movement earns. LED lights let you see how it stacks up against your daily goals; they also show the time, calories burned, and steps taken. Sync it with your smartphone to monitor your progress and start a competition with friends.

It comes in 3 different sizes: small, medium/large and extra large, although all versions do come with a spacer that you can insert/remove to change the size a little. The spacers are easy enough to add and remove and really do work quite well in adjusting the size of the band to get the perfect fit. If you’re not sure which of the sizes to get there is also a small sizing guide on the box which you can measure up to. We would recommend opting for the smaller one and then increasing the size with the spacers included.

The clip of the wristband hides the USB which plugs into you computer to charge or upload information. This design keeps it hidden out of the way until it is needed and keeps the band looking modern and stylish. The LED’s that light up when the button on the front is pressed are surprisingly bright and stand out even in bright daylight. Once you reach your goal just sit down and watch your display as it lights up with an array of pleasing colours.

The Nike Fuelband SE is still not waterproof, although the water resistance of the device has been improved. If you’re just washing up or going for a shower then you’ll be just fine keeping it on your wrist, but if you’re off for a swim, you’ll have to remove it. This is mainly due to the USB connector being exposed under the clip.

The Nike+ FuelBand SE is a comfortable design and keeps you motived to exercise….displays calories , time and steps. Doesn’t track stairs climbed, heart rate or sleep. The fuelband’s sharing system really helps you stay motivated by sharing your progress with your friends. You can share it with your Nike+ groups, Facebook, Twitter and Path. It’s nice to brag your progress in the face of those that just sit all day to criticize others on Facebook instead of taking care of their own health… just saying. ‘Win the hour’ reminds you have to move at least five minutes every hour if you want to avoid damage to your spine long-term. It’s true it’s hard to notice it’s time to move since it lacks of a vibration notification, so it’s kind of a miracle if you see your band flashing (considering you forget you are wearing it), but it’s also true that you can link it to your phone to get respective notifications on-screen, just like getting a message.

Fitbit

The Fitbit counts steps, calories burned, distance traveled, flights climbs, and even has an alarm. The alarm has to be activated from the app on your phone, but it syncs very quickly, so there really isn’t ever a problem to do it. At first I didn’t think the step count was completely accurate as I have a few hundred steps before I even start my day. But the website does state that it would take a couple of days for the device to be able to read your patterns and track your movements. On the second/third day of wearing the device you will get accurate steps taken, miles ran or walked and also calories. It also tracks sleep patterns and this can help you figure out your sleep patterns and get into the routine to go to bed at a particular time to wake up rested. The cellphone alerts are excellent, you can use it with your iPhone and some android devices as well. Overall, I think this device is worth giving a try. For those that are wondering if it motivates me to walk/run my 10,000 steps, Yes, it does! Once the 10,000 steps are accomplished, there’s this mini celebration going on in the device, it’s so cute, I love it.

The Fitbit Charge is NOT waterproof, so you’re gonna have to take it off before showers and getting into a pool.

Below are additional benefits for the Fitbit that the Nike+ fuelband doesn’t have:

Stairs climbedSome activity trackers feature a built-in altimeter to record how many steps you’ve climbed each day. This is another way to monitor your activity and meet a fitness goal. Some activity trackers can also calculate your calories burned using this information and/or personal data.

Sleep Patterns

Many trackers with an accelerometer can also monitor your movement to determine sleep patterns. Some trackers require that you change to sleep mode to do this. With this information, trackers will give you a description of sleep quality based on your patterns. You can also find trackers with a silent alarm that will vibrate to wake you up.

One thought on “Activity Trackers for Weight Loss”

I bought my husband the Fitbit Force for Christmas last year. He was an average sized guy who ate whatever he pleased. He got the Force and it changed his life. He became competitive with himself and started using the app to track his food. In 8 months he lost nearly 30 lb. and is completely in control of his eating and his health. He’s in better shape today (at the age of 54) than he’s ever been. It’s truly amazing. I had the Force and I do love it. When the Charge came out we both bought them. They’re much lighter than the Force, but with the same crappy clasp design. Make sure you buy O-rings to keep the clasp closed. I’d had mine fall off me MULTIPLE times. Really wish that Fitbit had given the Charge a watch type closure. It’s truly become a “can’t live without” type of “tool”. HIGHLY recommend for anyone… even kids! Everyone needs a gentle reminder to get out and MOVE MORE!